The Chef From the Apocalypse Enters the Food Industry - Chapter 93

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 93. Broadcast Airing
PD Ga had sharpened his blade.
After Round 1 was shot on Thursday and aired on Saturday to great fanfare,
Round 2 had its broadcast schedule split to maximize the buzz.
Spread across two weeks instead of one.
As a result,
the edited broadcast of Round 2 could now air even on the living room television in Jin-woo’s house.
The screen captured a close-up of Haran, overwhelming the chefs with knife work that seemed almost possessed by a spirit.
“Wow, that young lady is really something. She’s on such a big broadcast at her age and doesn’t even look nervous.”
“Right? How does she handle a knife like that?”
Jin-woo’s father, watching the television, let out an admiring whistle.
It was nothing but admiration. Even someone who knew nothing about cooking could see she was operating at a transcendent level.
Soon, his admiring gaze shifted to Jin-woo, quietly peeling a tangerine in the corner of the sofa.
“Jin-woo. That young lady works with you, doesn’t she?”
“Yes? That’s right. Haran works with me too.”
“That Haran seems to be flying around the kitchen?”
“She was born with talent. Especially when it comes to knife work.”
“Is that so? But when are you going to stand in front of the stove?”
“Right. No matter how much you strut around calling yourself a manager, in the end it’s the people actually cooking who get the spotlight.”
“That’s true.”
“When your mother sees our son just carrying trays, it really breaks her heart.”
Breaks her heart.
Without realizing it, Jin-woo clenched the tangerine peel in his hand.
His parents’ worried reproach dug deep into his chest.
‘I can do well too. I am doing well. I just need a little more time.’
The words reached the tip of his throat before stopping.
Though they were reproaching him with their words,
his eyes were filled with worry.
‘I want to show my real cooking beside the boss.’
Jin-woo could only bow his head as he swallowed down the bitter ache.
* * *
Another week passed, and the situation grew even larger.
The buzz generated by the live broadcast was significant.
After Episode 2, which Jin-woo watched while receiving reproach, Episode 3 that followed was a massive hit. It was thanks to PD Ga’s possessed editing skills.
At that moment,
Jang On-gyu, who had watched the broadcast, felt blood rushing backward through his veins.
‘That arrogant bastard.’
Jang On-gyu’s face twisted hideously with rage.
His breathing grew rough.
In fact, when he first approved the live broadcast, he had been relaxed.
It didn’t matter if Kim Seon-woo was trampled mercilessly by the chefs and humiliated.
Even if he miraculously survived, I believed he would merely be consumed as a clown within the grand survival spectacle I had orchestrated.
But.
‘Tsk….’
Watching him perform at such an overwhelming level even in the second round burned my insides.
It stung as painfully as if he had slapped my face.
‘How dare he play the protagonist on my stage?’
It was an unbearable sense of humiliation.
Rationally, I knew Kim Seon-woo was merely performing within the framework I had created.
But my emotions refused to tolerate him.
“Haa….”
I took several deep breaths, exhaling heavily as my mind raced.
Regardless of how things unfolded, this stage had favored me.
I needed to find a way to pull that stage further into my favor.
‘I need to create a variable. One that suits my side.’
I finally devised a method.
Once I had thought of it, I had to act on it.
Jang On-gyu immediately seized the smartphone on his desk and called the KBN Entertainment Bureau Chief.
The chief answered urgently before the ringtone had even finished twice.
-Jang Owner! Did you watch the broadcast! The viewership ratings were absolutely phenomenal.
“Yes. They certainly were.”
Separate from my earlier excitement, my voice sounded quite composed.
Jang On-gyu had a natural talent for maintaining his outward appearance.
-Haha. Isn’t it a tremendous success?
“I know. I know, but I think it’s time I stepped in myself now.”
-Pardon?
“Didn’t you know from the beginning? The finals privilege. You remember, right?”
-Ah. The privilege. Yes, of course. I remember perfectly.
“Yes. To directly execute that, I think it would be better if I stepped in myself.”
-Directly?
“Yes. Directly.”
-Hmm…
For some reason, the chief hesitated.
At this, Jang On-gyu asked outright.
“Is that not possible?”
A moment of silence.
After this, the chief let out a deep sigh and spoke.
-I’ll speak with PD Ga and arrange it. We’ll invite you as a special judge.
Only then did Jang On-gyu nod with satisfaction.
* * *
The Department Head hung up the phone.
Click.
The sound of the receiver being set down briefly filled the empty Broadcasting Station Director’s Office.
“Perfect! Yes!”
The Department Head leaned back deeply in his chair, muttering to himself.
Then he glanced up at the ceiling and let out a stifled laugh—the kind that bursts forth after being held back for so long.
“Your scheme actually worked. Really. Satisfied? Does it feel refreshing?”
“Of course. So refreshing I could die. Hehehehe.”
“You’re insane.”
PD Ga, who had been sitting quietly on one side of the sofa, responded flatly.
He had been there all along. More precisely, since before Jang On-gyu made the call.
During the Department Head’s conversation, and even after it ended. He said nothing. He was simply there.
Like a man who didn’t exist.
Jang On-gyu had no idea.
That PD Ga had heard every word of his conversation with the Department Head.
“See? I told you this would work, Department Head.”
“You did.”
“And it actually did, didn’t it?”
“It did. But how did you know?”
“That man is naturally attention-seeking. Someone else gets the spotlight where he stands? He can’t stand it. Attention-seekers can’t.”
“But how could you possibly know that would happen?”
“Because of Kim Seon-woo.”
“Hah. Well… since it actually turned out that way, I can’t exactly deny it.”
The Department Head let out another stifled laugh.
The face of a man whose mind was at ease.
“Either way, it’s entertaining. The game is playing out well.”
PD Ga looked at the Department Head and raised the corners of his mouth slightly.
He wasn’t one to show his emotions openly.
Just a faint glimmer in his eyes—the light of a calculation completed.
“So then, what should I do next?”
The Department Head turned his head.
“There’s more? Here again?”
“Of course there is. This is a four-part series. We have one left, and we need to make it really explode.”
“We have one round left and you want to push further here?”
“A proper finale needs to really blow up.”
“You’re insane.”
The Department Head drew a circle on his temple with his index finger.
It was his way of saying PD Ga was crazy.
PD Ga continued undeterred.
“Jang On-gyu appearing this time—I calculated that from his perspective, there’s nothing to lose. Not yet, anyway.”
“So?”
“We need to bring in someone similar.”
“Someone similar.”
The Department Head narrowed his eyes.
“Who?”
PD Ga fell silent for a moment.
Then he quietly spoke a name.
“Han Jae-won.”
“!!!!”
The Department Head paused.
Han Jae-won. A name that couldn’t be overlooked in the food service industry.
Six franchise brands alone.
All of them profitable, and two of them had even expanded overseas.
In the industry, he was often mentioned alongside Jang On-gyu.
They carried similar weight.
But unlike Jang On-gyu, who appeared frequently on broadcasts, Han Jae-won kept a low profile.
You could say he focused solely on business.
He wasn’t well known to the public.
Precisely because of that, he remained untouched.
“Will he actually appear?”
“We need to make him appear.”
“How?”
“Because Jang On-gyu is already on board.”
PD Ga explained simply.
“Jang On-gyu appearing is a signal that this project carries that kind of weight. Han Jae-won is a perceptive person.”
“He’d be perceptive, sure. But he hasn’t appeared until now, has he?”
“Not until now. But that man, despite appearances, has a calculating nature. When the time is right and the stage is set? He’ll come. All he needs to do is sit at a table that’s already been prepared and enjoy the meal.”
“Hmm… you think it’ll work?”
“Absolutely. By now, he’s probably already considering whether to reach out first before we contact him.”
“Is that just speculation, or do you have grounds for it?”
“Both.”
The Department Head studied PD Ga for a long moment.
“Still, will Jang On-gyu be happy about it? Another person of his caliber joining in?”
PD Ga let out a short laugh.
“What if he doesn’t like it?”
“What if he doesn’t?”
“What can he do? It’s already a four-part series, and we’ve generated buzz. He can’t back out now, not from his position.”
The Department Head crossed his arms.
“True.”
“Sponsors are already lining up. They keep signing on every broadcast day. If he tries to back out now? He’s the only one who loses.”
PD Ga paused for a moment, then added his thought.
“Jang On-gyu would never be unaware of that. He can’t leave now. It’s a quagmire.”
His voice was calm.
Yet something sharp lay beneath it. As if he’d known everything from the start. As if he’d understood Jang On-gyu would have no choice but to come out—understood it even before Jang On-gyu himself did.
The Department Head caught onto it, letting out a low chuckle as he spoke.
“As expected. You’re the only one in this industry who’d milk even the sponsors, aren’t you?”
“I have something to say about that too.”
PD Ga’s voice shifted slightly. Ever so subtly.
“What?”
“If you hadn’t forced this on me, I wouldn’t have done it.”
The Department Head’s eyes crinkled.
“Well, that’s just because I have good judgment.”
“Thanks to that, it worked out well.”
PD Ga spoke briefly, his words carrying the ring of sincerity.
The Department Head waved his hand once. As if to hide his embarrassment.
‘How nauseating.’
PD Ga stopped right there.
Going any further would only diminish the understated elegance of the moment.
“So we’re good, then?”
“Yeah. We’re good.”
PD Ga rose from the sofa and grabbed his jacket.
As he walked toward the door, he turned back just once to add a final word.
“Oh, and I’ll be the one contacting Han Jae-won. You don’t know anything about it.”
“…Understood.”
“If Jang On-gyu causes a fuss, you can clean up the mess.”
“Ugh. Fine, fine. Just make sure it succeeds. I’ll handle the rest like I said.”
“Understood.”
The door closed quietly.
Left alone in the Director’s Office, the Department Head looked up at the ceiling once more.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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